(28 May 2025)
SYRIA DAMASK ROSE
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 4:40
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 13 May 2025
1. Damask rose plant
2. Various of women including company owner Roula Ali Adib (in multi-colored button-up shirt) on farm, picking roses
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Roula Ali Adib, owner of Bio Cham company:
"Asma Assad (Syria’s former first lady) did something great for the Damascus rose. She got it inscribed in the UNESCO (U.N. educational and scientific organization) list for (intangible heritage) as part of the cultural heritage of Syria and Damascus. We should take advantage of that and continue to build on the Damascus rose project."
4. Various of people picking the rose from a farm
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Suzan Jibrini, volunteer:
"The smells are incredible. And the energy that we get is amazing and it stays with us for months to come. We hope that we can come back and pick the Damascus rose again. We get to see how the roses are taken out of the bags and what happens with it (afterwards)."
6. Various of people picking roses
7. Roses getting dropped into bag
8. Man pouring roses out of bag
9. Adib looking at roses
10. Roses on the floor
11. Man emptying crates of roses into large pot
12. Men pouring liquid over roses
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 20 May 2025
13. Various of women picking and sorting rose petals
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 13 May 2025
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Roula Ali Adib, owner of Bio Cham company:
"We are still facing difficulties with shipments and registration. These difficulties have always been there. But now, we are hopeful that after the lifting of the sanctions, we’ll at least be able to ship (easily)."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 20 May 2025
15. Various of woman making rose soap bars
16. Woman wringing rose petals
17. Various of woman making rose jam, stirring mixture in pot
18. Woman putting jam in jar
19. Woman closing rose jam jar
20. Various of woman filling bottles with rose essence
21. Various of rose essence in bottles
STORYLINE:
Volunteers on a farm in a small village in the countryside of Damascus harvested the famed pink Damask rose, getting to enjoy its fragrant smell and take in the scenery in the process.
This versatile and treasured rose is one of Syria’s most known flowers.
Roula Adib’s company harvests the flower and turns it into rose water, tea, jam, soap and skincare products.
This is the first Damask rose harvest to take place after the end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family.
Rose production in Syria was closely associated with government-backed initiatives in the past.
This year marks a shift in rose harvesting and production as independent growers and local communities take the lead.
The practices, handling and use of the Damask rose in the area of al-Mrah outside of Damascus were added to UNESCO’s world Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2019.
"We should take advantage of that and continue to build on the Damascus rose project," Adib said.
On the lush rose fields of Damascus, the pink roses stand out from all the green that surrounds them.
Volunteer Suzan Jibrini came to help harvest the rose and said she was enjoying the smell of the flower as well as her time on the farm.
"We hope that we can come back and pick the Damascus rose again," she added.
After the roses are picked, workers sort the petals then process them and use their extract to make a variety of food and cosmetic products.
AP video shot by Abd Al-Rahman Shaheen
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8067e99ff7544ea9870e8c69860aab8b
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in June 2, 2025, 9:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
